Walking around London, for nigh on 8 hours is not for the faint of heart! We took the train from

Broadstairs to Kings Cross, a 2 hour journey, with one change, and walked around central London

until very late.

The enormous Christmas tree at St Pancras station, made entirely of fluffy toys, was the centre of

attention for many wide eyed children and must surely be one of the most used ‘selfie’ backgrounds

for tourist’s holiday photos!

Once we left Covent Gardens and the Great Christmas Pudding Race, we meandered around the city streets, stopping off here & there on the way to meet up with friends at the Nell Gwynne and

then Trafalgar Square.

At Somerset House we watched the ice-skaters on an outdoor rink, envying the ease with which they were gliding across the ice; chuckled at

the good memories brought back by the Alice in Wonderland

display at the British Library; wondered at the

artistry of Ai Weiwei and his trees on display at the

Annenberg Courtyard of the Royal Academy;

shared in the silence and peace inside some of the

many magnificent churches in the city and enjoyed

the festive spirit at the many brightly lit up Christmas

markets. We marveled at the Christmas décor in the

windows of Harrods, enjoyed the buskers and

magicians in the area; taking in as much as we could

of the outdoor night life that downtown London had

to offer.

A comfortable looking leather chair? Made entirely of marble!

Lighting a candle for our beloved Mom

Buskers and colourful characters

There are Christmas trees of all shapes, sizes and styles

dotted all about, which

certainly helps in

creating a very

festive inner city.

Walking past Clarence House, the residence of Charles & Camilla, there was a TV program of some sort being filmed, but due to high hedges around the property, we couldn’t see anything more than a balcony lit up by huge floodlights.

We wondered if themselves were at indeed home whilst the filming was happening.

Colourful Christmas markets

The Royal Courts of Justice, built in the 1870’s, are formidable looking buildings but beautiful nonetheless.

The amount of history in the area we walked within the hours we were out would easily span more than just a

few hundred years – quite astounding!

As for the Southwark Cathedral – over 1,000 years a worship place – wow!

St Paul’s Cathedral, rising up from the paving like a leviathan towering up into the dark night sky is even more spectacular than during the day, despite the famous dome being hidden from view due to route of our approach. Spot lights cast long shadows into the depths of the magnificent masterpiece.

Tower Bridge is a busy and well used thoroughfare, vehicles and pedestrians alike trundling across the Thames River crossover until late into the night. The lights on the sides of the bridge reflecting beautifully onto the rippling water of the murky river below.

I had to see the dome, so we walked around to the other side. Aaah yes, there it was…. memories of the film “Mary Poppins” and the song “Feed the birds” came flooding back and I felt the emotion come flooding up my throat. I wish my dear departed mother could have seen this.

We finished up our day with a jolly fine meal of bangers, mash and beer; followed by good night’s sleep at the YHA Thameside. Tomorrow I was doing the Santa in the City fun run.